Updated October 18, 2026. Quick answer: The IRA Deduction Worksheet figures the amount of your traditional IRA contribution you can deduct. You use it with the instructions for Schedule 1, line 20, after reading the list of exceptions that come first. Line 12 gives the most you can deduct, and that total is entered on Schedule 1, line 20.
Related reading on this site: IRS Publication 590-A, IRS Publication 17 and IRS publications by number.
What this worksheet is for
“If you made contributions to a traditional IRA for 2025, you may be able to take an IRA deduction.” The instructions then say “Use the IRA Deduction Worksheet to figure the amount, if any, of your IRA deduction.” “But read the following list before you fill in the worksheet.” Part of that list sends some readers elsewhere: “If you are filing a joint return and you or your spouse made contributions to both a traditional IRA and a Roth IRA for 2025”, the instructions say to “see Pub. 590-A to figure the amount, if any, of your IRA deduction.”
Whether a retirement plan covered you also matters. The instructions explain: “box 13 of your Form W-2 should be checked if you were covered by a plan at work” and “You are also covered by a plan if you were self-employed and had a SEP, SIMPLE, or qualified retirement plan.” The worksheet is the second half of the Schedule 1 line 20 explanation on Schedule 1 line 20, the IRA deduction. The other worksheets in this series are listed on the Form 1040 worksheets page.
The worksheet line by line
The worksheet has two columns, “Your IRA” and the spouse’s IRA, and its lines 7 to 12 are on the continued page, headed “IRA Deduction Worksheet” followed by the word Continued. Dollar amounts and percentages that depend on filing status or age are printed on the worksheet and are not repeated here.
| Line | What the worksheet says |
|---|---|
| Heading | “Be sure you have read the instructions for this line. You may not be able to use this worksheet.” |
| Before you begin | “If you are married filing separately and you lived apart from your spouse for all of 2025, check the box on line 20.” |
| 1a | “Were you covered by a retirement plan” |
| 1b | “If married filing jointly, was your spouse covered by a retirement plan?” |
| Next (after 1a and 1b) | “skip lines 2 through 6”, then enter the applicable amount on line 7a (and 7b), and “go to line 8”. The worksheet prints the amounts, by age at the end of 2025, directly under this instruction. A reader answering Yes to either question goes on to line 2. |
| 2 (columns 2a and 2b) | “Enter the amount shown below that applies to you.” The worksheet lists the amounts by filing status; they are not reproduced here, so read the one for your status on the worksheet itself. |
| 3 | “Enter the amount from Form 1040 or 1040-SR, line 9” |
| 4 | “Enter the total of the amounts from Schedule 1, lines 11 through 19a, plus 23 and 25” |
| 5 (5a and 5b) | “Subtract line 4 from line 3. If married filing jointly, enter the result in both columns” |
| 6 (6a and 6b) | “Is the amount on line 5 less than the amount on line 2?” If No: “None of your IRA contributions are deductible.” If Yes: “Subtract line 5 from line 2 in each column.” The line then branches by filing status and by the size of the result, with the dollar amounts printed on the worksheet. |
| 7 (7a and 7b), on the Continued page | “Multiply lines 6a and 6b by the percentage below that applies to you.” “increase it to the next multiple of $10”. “If the result is $200 or more, enter the result.” The percentages, by filing status and age, are printed on the worksheet. |
| 8 | “Enter the total of your (and your” spouse’s if filing jointly): “Wages, salaries, tips, etc.” “Alimony and separate maintenance payments reported on Schedule 1, line 2a.” “Nontaxable combat pay.” |
| 9 | “Enter the earned income you (and your spouse if filing jointly) received as a” self-employed “individual or a partner.” |
| 10 | “Add lines 8 and 9” |
| Caution box | For joint filers whose line 10 is small, the box says to “stop here and use the worksheet in Pub. 590-A to figure your IRA deduction.” The dollar amounts are printed in the box. |
| 11 (11a and 11b) | “Enter traditional IRA contributions made, or that will be made by the due date of your 2025 return not counting extensions” (“April 15, 2026, for most people”) |
| 12 (12a and 12b) | “enter the smallest of line 7a, 10, or 11a.” “This is the most you can deduct.” “enter the total on Schedule 1, line 20.” “you can deduct a smaller amount and treat the rest as a nondeductible contribution” |
A worked example
This example is an illustration, not an IRS example. It follows one single filer, one column, who was covered by a plan at work, is under age 50 and has the single filer amount of 89,000 on line 2a. Every other figure is invented.
| Line | Input or step (illustration, not an IRS example) | Amount |
|---|---|---|
| Line 2a | The amount the worksheet prints for a single filer | $89,000 |
| Line 3 | Form 1040, line 9 | $60,000 |
| Line 4 | Schedule 1 amounts on line 4 | $2,000 |
| Line 5a | Line 3 minus line 4 | $58,000 (computed) |
| Line 6a | Line 2a minus line 5a; this is $10,000 or more | $31,000 (computed) |
| Line 7a | Under age 50, the worksheet says to enter the printed amount on line 7 and go to line 8 | $7,000 |
| Line 8 | Wages | $45,000 |
| Line 9 | No self-employment earnings | $0 |
| Line 10 | Line 8 plus line 9 | $45,000 (computed) |
| Line 11a | Traditional IRA contributions for the year | $5,000 |
| Line 12a | Smallest of lines 7a, 10 and 11a (7,000, 45,000 and 5,000) | $5,000 (computed) |
The point is the last step: line 12a is the smaller of the three amounts on lines 7a, 10 and 11a, so the contribution (5,000) is the limit here, not the earnings or the line 7a amount of 7,000.
Where the number comes from
Line 3 is read from Form 1040, line 9, the total income line explained on lines 9, 10 and 11. Line 4 adds other Schedule 1 adjustments: “lines 11 through 19a, plus 23 and 25”.
On line 8, the wages are usually from the Form W-2: “Generally, this is the amount reported in box 1 of Form W-2.” On line 9 the self-employed earnings are reduced, because the line takes the net earnings “minus any deductions on Schedule 1, lines 15 and 16.”
Rollovers stay out of the worksheet. The instructions say not to include them: “Instead, see the instructions for Form 1040 or 1040-SR, lines 4a and 4b.” Those lines are covered on the lines 4a and 4b page.
Where it goes next
Line 12 ends with the instruction to “enter the total on Schedule 1, line 20.” The deduction then reaches the adjustments section of Schedule 1 and from there Form 1040. Married filers filing separately and living apart also have a box to mark: “check the box on line 20.”
Edition and line numbers
This page reads the 2025 Instructions for Form 1040 and 1040-SR, the current file irs.gov served on 2026-10-18, byte-identical to the archived copy; the worksheet is for the tax year 2025 return, filed in 2026. Check the tax year printed on the worksheet in your own instructions and use that year’s line numbers, because a different year’s worksheet can number or word its lines differently.
Common mistakes
- Using this worksheet when both a traditional and a Roth IRA were funded on a joint return. The instructions say “see Pub. 590-A to figure the amount, if any, of your IRA deduction.”
- Counting 401(k) style salary deferrals as IRA deductions. The instructions say “You can’t deduct elective deferrals to a 401(k) plan, 403(b) plan, section 457 plan, SIMPLE IRA plan, or the federal Thrift Savings Plan.”
- Skipping the line 20 box when married filing separately and living apart all year. The instructions say “If you are married filing separately and you lived apart from your spouse for all of 2025, check the box on line 20.”
Related: Schedule 1 line 20, the IRA deduction, lines 9, 10 and 11, lines 4a and 4b, and Schedule 1.
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Answer againSources
- Instructions for Form 1040 and 1040-SR (2025): https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/i1040gi.pdf
- Form 1040 (2025): https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/f1040.pdf
- Schedule 1 (Form 1040), Additional Income and Adjustments to Income (2025): https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/f1040s1.pdf
Read from the IRS documents linked above on October 18, 2026. General information, not tax advice. Your own facts decide the outcome, and a preparer, the account provider or the IRS is the right place to confirm anything consequential.